CARTHAGE, Texas — Last week, Carthage faced arguably the only team who was able to seriously compete with them this season: Pleasant Grove. The Hawks were an experienced team full of seniors and came into the match-up No. 3 and undefeated.
That being said, they were going to put up a fight to make it to the AT&T Stadium and claim the title like in 2016. But this isn't a Pleasant Grove piece, it's a story of how Carthage prevailed in the face of adversity.
Sophomore KJ Edwards especially had his personal face-off with adversity as he fumbled three to four times causing multiple turnovers. Moreover, the Bulldogs had to overcome a 14-point second half deficit to come back and win 34-31. They played a state championship potential opponent in the third round of playoffs and still came out on top.
Edwards finished with a career high rushing for 269 yards and 25 carries, including a 70-yard touchdown. Throughout the adversity, he was still able to bounce back and finish the game off strong like an experienced running back.
"I was motivating myself because PG is a very good team," Edwards said. "They're physical on both sides of the ball so I just made sure I was physical and protecting the quarterback as well."
The nine-time state champions are currently on a 29-game win streak as they head into quarterfinals on Friday.
The Bulldogs has produced top notched running backs, such as former Arizona Cardinals player Keontay Ingram.
Being on a winning team has its perks but downfalls too, like being outshined by every rising star. So it can be difficult to stand out individually.
"We have a lot of good athletes and a lot of good running backs," said Head Coach Scott Surratt. "I've seen KJ growing up playing ball when he was my son's age and now he's playing with him, handing the ball to him and he's been a really good player is whole life."
KJ is a reserved athlete, who mainly lets his performances do the talking. So when he was asked how to describe his game to anyone who's never seen him play, the answer was simple.
"They'd say, he's him," Edwards said." He's a dog."